Mahamaya Prasad Sinha

Mahamaya Prasad Sinha Biography

Mahamaya Prasad Sinha was an Indian politician from the state of Bihar who has served as fifth Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1967 to January 1968. He has been associated with Indian National Congress, Jana Kranti Dal and Janata Party at different points of time in his political journey, and when he formed government in 1967, it became the first non-Congress government of state. He formed state government representing the regional party, Jana Kranti Dal. But his term was short-lived, as he lost power before one year, and could remain in power for just 330 days. Indian National Congress came into power very soon, which also witnessed a lot of drama in state politics. He also remained a Parliamentarian during 1977-1980, representing Janata Party. He passed away in 1987.

Mahamaya Prasad Sinha was born on 1 May 1909 in Siwan district in Bihar. He was born into a very influential and aristocratic family. Apart from excellence in academic, he also had an athletic career. In 1929 he got I.C.S but joined the Civil Disobedience Movement. He was appointed the Dictator of the District, and jailed too. When he was arrested and jailed for the second time, he had a heat stroke and completely lost his voice while at prison. He remained a member of the A.I.C.C for many years since 1931.

In the 1930s he rose to prominence as a political leader from the region of Bihar. He served as the President of the District Congress Committee too. After the formation of states, he became active in state politics. Mahamaya Prasad Sinha came into power in 1967 representing Jana Kranti Dal, but a coalition government which didn’t carry too long. But it also registers one of the bad marks in the field of education, resulting in the deterioration of education standards in Bihar. Still now the conditions are not reversed.

A rapid decline in the education system of Bihar was induced in 1967 when a coalition government of Samyukta Vidhayak Dal (SVD) was formed under the Chief Ministership of Sinha. Education minister Karpoori Thakur introduced a new system whereby a student was promoted to college from the high school even if he or she had failed in English, which was sarcastically called PWE (Pass without English) or “Karpoori Division”. In his opinion it gives more chances for students from rural regions to get admission in colleges for higher studies. The end result was quality of education deteriorated, more students joining colleges without educational qualification, and when there were no enough colleges to absorb all these students, highly influential people of the society started colleges. But quality of education deteriorated only, a condition which exists till now. It badly affected all sectors of the state of Bihar.

Published: September 18, 2018

Updated: September 19, 2018